"Christmas Eve Gift!" she answered.  Mother beat me to the punch.  Growing up it was always Mamaw calling and exclaiming "Christmas Eve Gift!"

 

I never knew what it meant until this year.  Evidently, there was a tradition among families where the one to give the "Christmas Eve Gift!" greeting was due a gift on Christmas Eve.  I don't know that Mamaw ever got a Christmas Eve Gift from us and I know my mother hasn't from me.  But it is a tradition we keep alive reminding me every year of the gift my Mamaw was in my life.

 

Mamaw's gift in my life was to teach me about THE GIFT.  She taught me in what she said and in how she lived.  She knew Jesus and not merely in some academic fashion.  Jesus was more real to her than her family.  He was with her through the tragic loss of her husband, multiple cancer diagnoses and congestive heart failure.  He was with her as she read Christmas cards in her easy chair.  He was with her as the last card dropped to her lap and her eyes closed in death.

 

There is not a Christmas that goes by that I don't think about Mamaw, "Christmas Eve Gift!" and most importantly, THE GIFT – Jesus.  And I know that as surely as He was with her in life, she is now with Him in death.

 

So "Christmas Eve Gift!" to you!  But above all may you receive and cherish THE GIFT of God this Christmas.

 

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

 

On behalf of all of us who labor together on your behalf at Faith – Merry Christmas!

 

Brent D. Summerhill

As I reflect on our church meeting last Sunday evening I am caused to rejoice in humility.

 

I rejoice at the great number of mission and mercy ministries embraced by this church.  From Romania to Pennsylvania to the South Pacific this church is seeking to fulfill the Great Commission not only by sending checks, but by praying and going and loving and encouraging.  Two trips are scheduled for 2010: a spring construction trip (see Jerry Chandler) and an autumn medical/dental trip (see Sandy Bennett).  Both will need volunteers and funding.

 

God is also reaching out through the church's ministries of mercy, including Faith Support Ministry and Keep the Faith Foundation.  Both these ministries minister to the physical needs of adults and children with cancer.  But even more importantly they reach out to the spiritual needs of those families, sharing Christ and the hope of His Gospel.  How we all were moved Sunday evening by the reports and video.

 

Any or all of these mercy missions would be worthy of our Todah (the special offering of thanks we have been encouraged to give before Christmas).

 

All of this fills my heart with joy and also humbles me.  While I am happy to serve Christ as pastor of this church, it is the church that is doing the ministry.  It is the church that is keeping the lawn, praying over missionaries, taking medical care to the hurting, wrapping cancer patients in blankets, sharing the Gospel, being the body of Christ.  It is only by God's mercy that I am privileged to serve as pastor in such a church.

 

The church meeting was long.  But I needed it.  I needed the reminder of all the good God is doing through His children at Faith.  I humbly rejoice and give all the glory to Christ our Savior Who is the Head of this His church.

 

-Brent